Participation of Mr. Igor Becic, PABSEC Vice-President and Head of PABSEC Serbian Delegation, and Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General, in the 35th Meeting of the BSEC CMFA, Belgrade, 13 December 2016

Mr. Igor Becic, PABSEC Vice-President and Head of PABSEC Serbian Delegation, and Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General, participated in Belgrade, on 13 December 2016, in the 35th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

Mr. Tomislav Nikolic, President of the Republic of Serbia and Mr. Ivica Dacic, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Chairman-in-Office of the BSEC, addressed the gathering at the Opening Ceremony. Ambassador Michael Christides, BSEC Secretary General, also delivered a statement at the Opening Ceremony.

The PABSEC Secretary General, addressing the participants at the Working Session, expressed his deep gratitude to Mrs. Maja Gojkovic, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, for her contribution and activity during the PABSEC Serbian Presidency. He informed the participants in the meeting, about the successful completion of the Forty-Eighth PABSEC General Assembly that was held in Belgrade, during 29 November-1 December 2016, where have been discussed important issues regarding the development of the economic cooperation in the region. Mr. Hajiyev also informed about several significant events that will be organized during the PABSEC Turkish Presidency. Concluding his speech, he emphasized that during the PABSEC Serbian Presidency, the Hellenic Parliament joined the Declaration on Strengthening the PABSEC Status, underlining that eleven, out of twelve Parliaments of BSEC Member States, supported the Declaration (excluding Armenia).

During the Working Session, the Ministers exchanged views on different aspects concerning the Organization and the cooperation in the region. Mr. Nebojsa Stefanovic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, signed the Agreement Among the Governments of the Participating States of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation on Collaboration in Emergency Assistance and Emergency Response to Natural and Man-Made Disasters.

At the conclusion of the meeting, a ceremony took place, whereby the Republic of Serbia handed over the Chairmanship-in-Office of the BSEC, to the Republic of Turkey, for the next six months.